Fighting Spirit
by Lightspeed Bubba
Summary: Jaune Arc wants to be a Pro gamer, he's wanted to be that since he was a kid. Fighting games are his avenue to stardom but to get there, he's going to have to get through some of the best of the best.


**A/N** : **Welcome to the second of the three One-shots that I've completed. I hope you all enjoy. After this, you can expect the last of the one shots as well as an announcement as to what my next big project is next Monday, the 10** **th** **. Enjoy.**

Jaune groaned loudly and brought his hands to his face. He fell back into his bed, squeezing the controller he held in his hand. It was late and he knew he should be getting to sleep. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it, not yet at least. The controller dropped from his hands and he sat up, eyes focused on the screen like they'd been for the last several hours. Jaune Arc had been playing fighting games for as long as he could remember, from Super Smash Brothers to Mortal Kombat to Tekken to the recently released Injustice Two. Ever since he was a boy, his life's goal had been to become a pro gamer. Getting paid to play the games he loved? It would've been a dream come true. There was one problem though that cropped up time and time again as he played; He sucked.

Well, sucked was a relative term. There was a part of him that stalled his progress just below elite status, whether it was hand-eye coordination, lack of practice time, lack of care, or simply bad luck, Jaune was unaware. He did know enough to thoroughly annihilate his friends at school and enough to keep a consistent win streak up online but when it came to tournaments? He would've been killed. His will never broke though, despite cracking several times, and he kept grinding. Every time a new fighting game came out, he picked it up and tested his skills. It wasn't until Injustice Two, NetherRealm Studio's newest addition to the scene, that Jaune felt something click.

From the time he turned his console on to the second he shut it off that first day, something had felt different. The skills he had tried to teach himself for years began to fall into place, he began to understand things he hadn't before, couple that with a cast of a characters that he really loved and it was the perfect storm for Jaune to be swept up in. Day in and day out he practiced with every character he could. He studied frame data, matchup charts, frame traps, setups, and cancel windows. Streams were constantly up, all information he could gather, he did. If he could get himself to place highly, or even win the Vale Regionals, it would be enough to get his foot in the door.

Before any of that could happen though, he had to get this damn combo down. The blond stared at the screen like it was taunting him, daring him to keep trying. After nearly seven hours in Practice Mode, exhaustion was setting in for the evening. Looking down, he paused the stream that had been running on his laptop. It was Prodigy's. Well, she went by the moniker Prodigy online and in tournaments at least. Her real name was Pyrrha Nikos and she lived up to her namesake. She'd been dominating the fighting game community since she was twelve, winning four straight Mistral Regional titles and even placing third and second at EVO in back to back years. It was basically unheard of for someone to dominate a tournament that big with so many big names like that at such a young age. She was a monster and, if the rumors he heard in forums were to be believed, she was moving into his region. From what Jaune heard from his family about the house for sale down the street, it wasn't just his region, it was his neighborhood.

Eastern Vale seemed to be a hub for top ranked players, his home state being responsible for four of the top twenty in the world, now including Prodigy. Must be something in the water. Outside of her though, there was Nora Valkyrie, better known as Hammer. She's been around for a while, always placing in the Top Eights in Regionals and even coming in fourth at EVO two years ago. She wasn't alone though, her partner in crime, as well as her number one rival was Lie Ren: Lotus. Two of the last four Regionals had come down to those two with Lotus taking both of them; he seemed to have her number. After them, there were two sisters, Ruby "Petal" Rose and Yang "Firecracker" Xiao-Long. Petal was a fresh face on the scene but she was trained by Firecracker so you couldn't just write her off. Rumor had it, and by rumor he meant his own eyes, that Petal was going to be something special. Trained by FC coupled with near supernatural hand speed and ability to read her opponent was definitely something to be on the lookout for. If she wanted to take this further though, she'd have to take a page from her sister's book. FC was a grade A trash talker, showman, and an absolute knockout on top of all of that. A dangerous combination if there ever was one, especially in the community she was a part of. She had a way about her that let her worm her way into your head and stay there like some kind of parasite. This was on in full effect in last year's Regional when she got her opponent so riled up that he actually rage quit and walked offstage. In the Finals. You'd think trying to do the same would at least level the playing field but it didn't. In fact, amping her up only seemed to make her play better. Throw Prodigy into the mix and it was basically EVO right here in Vale. To make it big, Jaune would have to beat all of them. A task that daunting would drive the fight right from a lesser man, but he was no lesser man! He would stand his ground and claim the title he'd worked so hard for.

All the practice would be for nothing and he would get no title if he didn't land this combo though. He looked at the clock on the laptop that sat in in front of him, one in the morning. Closing the tab that was playing the stream, he sighed. _One more try. One more and then sleep._ Jaune inhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. It wasn't something one would expect to be nervous about, landing a single combo in a video game, but it was. Halfway through he'd feel panic rising with the hit counter of the combo and he'd drop it, which frustrated him. This caused him to become less focused and drop the combo when he tried it again. It was a vicious cycle. _Start slow and focus._ Another breath and his fingers began to move. It shouldn't take more than six seconds. Six agonizing, anxiety ridden seconds. They ticked by like molasses in January. _Focus_. Nothing was going to ruin this moment for him, his last shot of the night. Wall bounce, high, high, low, overhead, low, low, overhead, super. As the last overhead connected, he clenched the lower shoulder buttons and Superman glided across the screen, connecting with his victim.

"YES! YES YES YES YES YES!" He pumped his fists in the air, standing and tossing his head back in raucous laughter before falling back onto his bed and kicking his feet in the air like a child on Christmas morning. "REGIONALS HERE I COME!" A ding sounded from his bed; his phone. A message from his younger sister Jade.

" **It's great that you're enjoying whatever it is you're doing but would you SHUT THE HELL UP SO WE CAN ALL SLEEP?!** " Jaune felt his cheeks redden and he sent back his apology. Turning, he shut down his console and dressed himself for bed. A smile never left his lips. With the Vale Regional Tournament starting in two weeks, he'd need to sign up tomorrow to make the deadline and pay the fifteen dollar entry fee. He'd be there and then he'd get his chance. Sleep came quickly that night and he dreamt of EVO glory. _Someday…_

Fourteen days past in what felt like three. The venue where the tournament was being held was a half hour walk from his home, a small mercy for one without a car. Jaune mentally checked and double checked everything. He had his entry ticket, his phone, his keys, and his wallet. _I think_ _that's everything. No sense wasting more time._ He opened the door, shouted his goodbyes to his family and was on his way. The entirety of his walk was spent going over every matchup he knew was possible in the tournament as well as a couple that weren't. He went over who else was possibly going to be there, besides the heavy hitters. It was going to be tough, there was a lot of elite talent in his neck of the woods but he was no slouch.

First he'd have to get through qualifiers, which consisted of pools of eight with the top two fighters of each pool moving out of the first round. If the numbers he heard were right, there'd be at six hundred people showing up for the first round, which split it into seventy-five groups of eight. From there, everything is split into another double elimination bracket like the first round. If you dropped a match in the first bracket, it carries over and you get put in the "Loser" bracket. Those that won all rounds go into the "Winner bracket." After all is said and done in the Semis, eight fighters will be left; The Top Eight. Prize money is guaranteed there and it's a standard double elimination bracket until only one remained.

With a fifteen dollar entry fee and about six hundred competitors, the prize pool should be nine thousand dollars, of which first place gets sixty percent, second twenty, third ten, and the rest of the Top Eight get five. Jaune did the math, first place would net him a cool fifty-four hundred bucks. Not a bad chunk of change to have. With it came status as well, Vale is a hotbed for talent and it wouldn't be unlikely for the Top Eight here to be close to what's at EVO later this year. All he had to do was get the win today and take the rest of the tournament one match at a time. Jaune was so caught up in _thinking_ about the tournament that he nearly walked right past it. A sign caught his attention just before could wander by and he followed it to the contestant entrance, making his way in. He handed his entry ticket to the guy at the door who wished him luck. The blond nodded his thanks and stepped into the building. The interior of the room was absolutely packed with people, all moving and shuffling around. The controlled chaos of a thousand different conversations going on at once rung against his ears. A desk sat on the far side of the room with someone behind it. He wasn't a tall man but he made up for it with his girth. The man's deep gray mustache rivaled the size of his head. _How does someone even grow a mustache that big?_ If Jaune didn't know better, he'd have guessed the man was asleep, considering that his eyes appeared to be closed. As he approached and the man sprang to his feet.

"Ahh welcome my boy! You must be one of the contestants. Splendid!" Any inclinations about the man being tired were promptly tossed out the window. The man was quite the overpowering conversationalist. "I'll need your name, son."

"Uhh, Jaune. Jaune Arc." The man scrawled it down on piece of paper.

"And the name you'll be competing under?" Jaune froze for a moment. Why had he never thought to select one? He'd give his gamer tag but maybe "Jaune_xX123" wouldn't inspire fear into his opponents. No, his normal gamer tag certainly wouldn't do. He'd have to think fast though, wouldn't want this guy thinking he's a complete idiot who didn't have a name ready… His eyes peered around the room, hunting for something, anything to spark an idea. _Damn it, alright. First cool thing to come to mind… Uhh Crimson Dragon! No that's trying way to hard… Black Knight! No that was better but still trying too much…_ His name had to be perfect.The origin of a gamer tag was special, and not just because it was what he'd be remembered as forever if he placed or, if he was good enough, won the whole thing. Tags were an extension of yourself, how one sees themselves, or how those in your life see you. That's what they were to him at least. _What about…_

"Hero." He'd said the words out loud without realizing it. The large man smiled and clapped a meaty hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hero you say? You know back in my day I was quite a 'Hero' myself. Why, I remember one time…" He descended into a story that was so chock full of inconsistencies, exaggerations, and bluster that Jaune knew it could only be about the man in front of him. He did his best to tune it out and let him ramble on. Jaune scanned the room around him, trying to find any of the big names entering this year. To his left, he saw Firecracker loudly proclaiming herself as the winner already and cracking a multitude of some of the worst puns he'd ever heard. Behind her was Petal, sitting on a metal chair, seemingly trying to hide from sight. A dozen or so feet to his right, he noticed Hammer and Lotus sitting together. Hammer seemed to be explaining something, from the way she was gesturing and smiling, she enjoyed whatever it was. Jaune managed to catch a couple words but he must've misheard them. Who gets that excited about breakfast food? Jaune turned back to the door he entered from, wondering if Prodigy was here. As the thought crossed his neural pathways she walked in, a mane of scarlet flowing behind her. _Wow…_ He admonished himself. _No! Bad brain. She is the enemy!_ A deeper recess of his mind replied. _She is for now but after…_ This did nothing to stop his wandering mind, but what did bring him back to reality were her movements towards his location as well as a slam of hands on the table from the man in front of him.

"And that's how I single handedly stopped a pack of hungry wolves from devouring two children in the forest." Jaune nodded, still collecting his thoughts as Prodigy reached him, and she smiled and waved.

"Hello. Is this where we sign in?" She even sounded cute. The streams he watched of hers were usually muted or he tuned her voice out, focusing on the gameplay. _Wow._ The man nodded and turned to her.

"Of course! I, Peter Port, shall provide you with all you require!" She gave her name as well as her Tag which he took down. Peter handed them both their name tags. "Good luck to both you Prodigy and you as well Hero." They both nodded and began to walk away. Then they heard the snapping of fingers. "Oh! Before I forget, here you both go." He reached across the desk, handing them both a slip of paper each with a number bonded to a letter and a time on it. "This is your match card. Since there are six hundred of you entering in today's tournament, the first round is chosen at random. Find the person with the matching number/letter combo and that's who you'll be competing against. The time is when you have your match." Both of the teens inclined their heads, thanking the man and walking away. After a second, the two realized they'd been walking with no direction and stopped, Jaune held out a hand.

"Hi. Jaune Arc, nice to meet you." She delivered him another smile. It was doing weird things to his heartbeat and was it getting hotter in the room?

"Pyrrha Nikos, likewise." She took his hand and squeezed. It was in that moment that he noticed how similar they were in height. Jaune was never one to tower over everyone but it wasn't an everyday thing for the six foot two teen to run into someone of similar height to him, let alone a girl. It was… nice. The blond returned her smile.

"So what's your number?" Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth hung open slightly. _What? Do I have something in my hair?_ _What was so weird about that? Maybe she's antisocial or something. Not a real uncommon thing, especially with how girls were still treated in the gaming community._ He looked down at his own piece of paper, hoping that she didn't have the same one as him. _Would be a real kick in the teeth to face her in the first round._ She spoke as his eyes glanced down.

"You mean my fight number. Yes, of course. I've got W-thirty-eight." It was Jaune's turn to raise his eyebrow. _Duh? What else could that me-._ He immediately went red in the face.

"Oh my god I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." A laugh left her lips and she waved her hand.

"Don't worry about it. What number did you end up with?" He peaked at the B-forty-two that lay scribbled on his paper and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before showing it to her. She gave him a look that was mixed parts understanding as well as disappointment.

"Seems like we're not going to be fighting this round." A smirk had found her lips. "A little apprehensive about facing me?" Embarrassment mixed with aggravation in his chest. She was right of course but he couldn't just say that! If he did, he might as well forfeit right then and there. He straightened his back and tried to hide his emotions behind a wall of confidence.

"Of course not. Just wouldn't want to knock out the great Prodigy in the first round is all. Gotta give the fans a show right?" _That sounded cool right? Dad always talked about being confident, maybe this is what he meant._ She barked out another laugh.

"Then I look forward to seeing you later in the tournament, Hero." With a wave and another smile (god, why did she keep having to smile? It made it really hard to focus) she was gone. With a shake of his head, he began looking around. _Gotta find the other B-forty-two. Maybe get something on them before the match._ According to his paper, his match wasn't going to happen for at least a two hours. Plenty of time to pick up a thing or two from his competition. A shout was heard from across the room.

"B-Forty-two! Anyone here got B-forty-two? Hunting for you B-forty-two!" Well, seems like they were going to come to him. _Easier for me at least. Let's get a look at this guy. Probably a short nerd with suspenders and an inhaler. He's probably got more pimples than he knows what to do with. Gotta be confident. Maybe I can intimidate him and get an edge…_ That idea went up in smoke when he saw who exactly was calling for him. Of course it wasn't some short guy with worse skin than a water buffalo. No, it was a girl. And not just any girl either, no. She was tall and curvy in the best possible way. Blonde hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of spun gold, lilac colored eyes that brimmed with intensity and determination, and a smile that somehow infuriated and aroused him. _Firecracker…_ His eyes locked with hers for a split second and she pointed at him, shouting. "You! You B-forty-two?" _What? Was she talking to me? Wow! Two conversations with gorgeous girls in one day!_ He looked down at his paper, praying to anything out there for the number to have changed to not B-forty-two. Sadly, it still remained. She smiled, not a polite or cute one either. No, this smile was much akin to what he imagined a lion would smile like upon seeing an injured gazelle lying half dead in a field. He felt shivers run down his spine as she closed in.

Firecracker turned and gestured for someone to follow her. _Oh god she's gonna kill me!_ All rational thought was gone at this point. He'd read on forums and such that seeing FC in person and dealing with her was like handling a golden dragon. FC closed in and placed a gloved hand on his chest. He peered down at her leather-clad hand as it tightened, gripping onto the front of his shirt. She tugged and, wait… was she holding him up with one arm? His pulse quickened to unsafe levels for a moment. In the back of his mind, he thought. _Under different circumstances, this could be hot, maybe lose all clothes but the gloves…_ _No! Bad brain, you stop it right now._ FC turned and gestured to someone behind her.

"Got him right here for ya Rubes." A girl in a flowy black and red skirt and shirt came over. She had a hood pulled up over her head. _Does that hood have a cape? Who wore a cape in public?_ He stared at her for a second as the gears turned in his head. The girl pushed her hood back slightly and the first thing Jaune noticed was silver eyes. _How do you even get silver eyes?_ Blush stained her cheeks.

"Yang! Put him down, you're embarrassing me!" She put her hood up; as if hiding her face would let her disappear from existence. Something he knew from experience wouldn't work. _Gonna need a bigger hood if you want to hide like that._ He felt his feet touch the ground again and he scrambled back. The girl, Rubes if he remembered correctly, spoke again. "You didn't need to go and hunt him down Yang. Our match isn't for two hours and it's not let he's gonna give me his whole strategy if I ask nicely." The blonde girl, Yang, smiled and smashed her fist into her other hand.

"Then I'll beat it out of him!" His eyes widened and he held up his hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, let's all take a second to calm down huh?" Both girls turned to him as well as a good chunk of the people in the area. "Nobody needs to beat me up for anything." The girl in black had retreated further into her hood, if that was actually possible. At the mention of a fight not breaking out, the crowd returned to their normal routines, just leaving the three teens to their own devices. Yang smiled.

"Maybe not but I like to keep my options open." She poked his chest with a finger, giving him a once over. "They really let anyone into these things huh? What's your name, Scrub?" Jaune felt a twitch in his eye as he bit his tongue before it could reply. _Don't play her game. She's better at it than you are._ She was trying to rile him up, that much was obvious, that didn't mean it wasn't working though.

"Jaune, Jaune Arc." He held out a hand. "You must be Firecracker." She squeezed his hand and he swore he heard bones crack.

"I see my reputation precedes me." She flicked a hand over her shoulder. "That is my little sister Ruby, your opponent for today." FC squeezed again, pulling him closer. _She smells nice._ "My bad, not your opponent. She's gonna make your her practice dummy, maybe if you're lucky she'll make you her whipping boy." _Yes please. NO! Bad brain, stop that right this instant!_ FC leaned in more, her lips just inches from his ear. "I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" His cheeks turned a deep shade of red. _Oh my god, can she read my mind?_ A whine sounded from behind her.

"Stop it Yang, you're being weird again." FC backed off and smiled again.

"Just having fun Rubes, don't be a party pooper." She balled her tiny hands into fists.

"You're harassing him." _She can harass me any day of the week._ He kicked mentally kicked himself again. FC held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine. I'll go find my opponent and you can handle yours." She was gone in a second and Jaune said a silent prayer for whoever the poor bastard she had to face was. It was now just him and Ruby. He took a breath and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc." She took his hand and gave it a light squeeze, a far cry from her sister's thankfully.

"Sorry about Yang, she's… well, you saw. I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." He nodded.

"Seems like we're going to be facing each other in the first round. Good luck." She nodded and gave a small grin.

"Good luck! To you as well I mean, also. Uh, yea. Good luck Jaune." She reddened again but it was cute. Her cheeks matched her outfit at this point. _Make it three cute girls today. I'm on a roll._ He smiled back and went to grab a bottle of water from the vending machine in the hallway. Today was going to be a very long day.

 **A/N: Well, this was a ton of fun to write, I do so love writing the characters in non-life or death situations. Please give this a review, if you'd be so kind. If you loved it, tell me what you liked, if you thought it was OK then tell me what I can do to make it great. As for those of you that hated it… Well let me know how much of a hack I am, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. As always, may Fortune favor you all.**


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